Analytical understanding of the significance, essence and meaning of things.

dhammapaṭisambhidā

Analytical understanding of the nature of the Dhamma, of the causation law, by means of language.

niruttipaṭisambhidā

Analytical understanding within a philological approach of the Dhamma. Deep understanding of the mode of language expression that is being utilised in connection with reality (grammar, etymology, gathering of sentences, etc.)

paṭibhānapaṭisambhidā

Analytical understanding of well-structured rhetoric and discourses, perspicuous and witty, destined to make the Dhamma easily understood by others.

* * * *

To our Lord Buddha, the fourfold analytical knowledge is found in connection with him on several occasions, during forty-five years of his teaching career. In the Aṅguttara Nikāya, the Buddha once claims his birth as the birth of glorious qualities—the realization of the fourfold analytical knowledge is one of them.[26]

“O bhikkhus, the birth of one person is the birth of great eye, the birth of great light, the birth of great illumination and the birth of six supremacies. That is the realization of the fourfold analytical knowledge, the penetration of many elements, the penetration of different elements and the realization of the fruition produced by emancipation and wisdom...”

On other occasions, the Buddha describes the fourfold analytical knowledge with reference to his disciples such as the venerable Sāriputta, the venerable Mahākoṭṭhita and others, the detail of which is described in the following headings.

The venerable Sāriputta, the General of Dhamma (Dhammasenāpati), was approved by the Buddha of being possessed of the fourfold analytical knowledge.

Concerning his attainment to analytical knowledge ( paṭisambhidā-ñāna), the Venerable Sāriputta speaks of it in the Anguttara Nikāya (Fours, No. 172), where he says:

"It was half a month after my ordination, friends that I realized, in all their parts and details, the analytical knowledge of meaning, the analytical knowledge of the Dhamma, the analytical knowledge of language, the analytical knowledge of perspicuity. These I expound in many ways, teach them and make them known, establish and reveal them, explain and clarify them. If anyone has any doubt or uncertainty, he may ask me and I shall explain (the matter). Present is the Master who is well acquainted with our attainments."

From all of this it is evident that the Venerable Sāriputta was a master of all the stages of attainment up to and including the highest insight-knowledge. What could be more aptly said of him than this, in the Buddha's own words:

"If one could ever say rightly of one that he has come to mastery and perfection in noble virtue, in noble concentration, in noble wisdom and noble liberation, it is of Sāriputta that one could thus rightly declare.

"If one could ever say rightly of one that he is the Blessed One's true son, born of his speech, born of the Dhamma, formed of the Dhamma, heir to the Dhamma, not heir to worldly benefit, it is Sāriputta that one could thus rightly declare.

"After me, O monks, Sāriputta rightly turns the supreme Wheel of Dhamma, even as I have turned it."

— Majjh. 111, Anupada Sutta

Another important figure who deserves such declaration, even more admirable, from the Buddha, is the venerable Mahākoṭṭhita. Amidst the Sangha, he was once declared by the Buddha to be foremost among bhikkhu noble disciples who attain the fourfold analytical knowledge. Here is the Buddha’s Word:

It has been also observed that all Theras and Therīs mentioned in the Apadāna possess the fourfold analytical knowledge. They declare at the end of their utterance the analytical knowledge together with the eight attainments and the sixfold direct knowledge: “Paṭisambhidā catasso, vimokkhāpi aṭṭhime; chaḷabhiññā sacchikatā, katā Buddhassa sāsanaṃ” viz. “the fourfold analytical knowledge, the eight types of deliverance and the sixfold direct knowledge have been realized; the Buddha’s teaching has been accomplished”.

Moreover, when we read the stories related to many Theras during the Buddha’s lifetime, and of the later period described in commentaries, particularly the Dhammapada commentary, we often see the passage “saha paṭisambhidāhi arahattaṃ pāpuṇāti”, “he attains the Arahatship together with the analytical knowledge”.

Many Suttas in the Aṅguttara Nikāya also describe the fourfold analytical knowledge. The Vādīsutta[37] makes known to us that he who is endowed with the fourfold analytical knowledge never gets exhausted from the aspect of expression (byañjanato) and explanation (atthato). Another Sutta, the Paṭisambhidāpattasutta[38] by name, also makes known to us that a monk is loved and respected by his fellows in the holy life if he possesses the fourfold analytical knowledge, and if he is diligent and skilful in works.

The fourfold analytical knowledge is then seen in the Paṭhamapaṭisam­bhidāsutta[39]. In this Sutta, the Master makes sure to his disciples that the fourfold analytical knowledge can be soon achieved if a bhikkhu is possessed of the seven factors[40] of comprehension. Following this Sutta is the Dutiyapaṭisam­bhidāsutta[41] where the fourfold analytical knowledge is found in connection with the venerable Sāriputta, the General of Dhamma. The venerable Sāriputta is declared by the Buddha there as the one who is endowed with the seven necessary factors for the attainment of the fourfold analytical knowledge, and as the one who, having realized, penetrated and entered upon the fourfold analytical knowledge, abides therein.

The fourfold analytical knowledge is again found in connection with the venerable Sāriputta in the Vibhattisutta. There, the venerable Sāriputta tells his companions about his penetration of the fourfold analytical knowledge and his ability to expound the Dhamma for clearing doubt in the mind of questioner. He reveals that he attains the fourfold analytical knowledge by way of cause (odhiso) and by way of letter (byañjanaso) on the fifteenth day after his higher ordination, and could speak of them, expound them, make them known, make them arise, explain them, analyze them and make them occur with various methods.[42]

Another Sutta by name of Akuppasutta[43] describes the fourfold analytical knowledge as an indispensable condition for the attainment of Arahatship. The Buddha therein says that the monk who possesses the fourfold analytical knowledge, and reflects on the mind in accordance with liberation, not before long, penetrates the imperturbable state, the Arahatship.

The complete mention of the Paṭhamapaṭisambhidāsutta[2] will be described to elucidate the seven factors or causes that lead to the attainment of the fourfold analytical knowledge. At one time, the Buddha said:

7) He clearly perceives, clearly takes a mental note of, wisely contemplates and penetrates with wisdom the sign[5] of what is proper, what is improper, what is inferior, what is superior, what is defiled and what is purified (sappāyāsappāyesu kho panassa dhammesu hīnappaṇītesu kaṇhasukkasappati­bhāgesu nimittaṃ suggahitaṃ hoti sumanasikataṃ sūpadhāritaṃ suppaṭi­viddhaṃ paññāya).

O bhikkhus, a bhikkhu is endowed with these seven factors, before long he himself, having comprehended, having realized and having entered upon the fourfold analytical knowledge, abides therein”.

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.” - Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:in mountain clefts and chasms,loud gush the streamlets,but great rivers flow silently.- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Yes, good post. I was just looking at paṭisambhidā in the context of vitakka & vicāra the other day. The Peṭakopadesa analysis of these terms in the context of the jhāna formula includes the following:

Vitakka is like a text-reciter who does his recitation silently. Vicāra is like him simply contemplating it (anupassati). Vitakka is like non-comprehension (apariññā). Vicāra is like full comprehension (pariññā). Vitakka is the analytical understanding of language (niruttipaṭisambhidā) and the analytical understanding of knowledge (paṭibhānapaṭisambhidā). Vicāra is the analytical understanding of dhamma (dhammapaṭisambhidā) and the analytical understanding of meaning (atthapaṭisambhidā). Vitakka is the mind's skill in pleasantness. Vicāra is the mind's skill in endeavor. Vitakka is about this being skillful, this unskillful, about this to be developed, this to be abandoned, this to be verified. Vicāra is like the abandoning, the development, the verification.

Nana, I was wondering if you could comment on the pali word that has been translated as "analytical". Sometimes I find a hesitancy to actually be analytical among some practitioners--maybe even some schools. Your thoughts?

alan wrote:Sometimes I find a hesitancy to actually be analytical among some practitioners--maybe even some schools. Your thoughts?

I think that Buddhadhamma in general, and the Pāli Theravāda in particular, is quite analytical. For example, another name for the ancient Sthaviravāda is Vibhajyavāda (Pāli: Vibhajjavāda), which according to Andrew Skilton, emphasized "analysis, especially of dhammas ... reflected in its name -- vibhajya meaning 'dividing, analyzing.'" The Pāli Theravāda was always keen to keep this name, and at times was even accused by other schools of being overly preoccupied with the analysis of categories and making distinctions.

alan wrote:I was wondering if you could comment on the pali word that has been translated as "analytical".

The Pāli term is paṭisambhidā, which like most things, has been analyzed in considerable detail by the Theravāda commentators! For example, the first chapter of Ven. Kusalaguṇa's dissertation Catupaṭisambhidā In Theravāda Buddhism looks at the term paṭisambhidā in two ways:

The term ‘paṭisambhidā’ can be formed by two ways—one is, as described above, from the prefixes ‘pati’ and ‘saṃ’, the root √bhid and the noun-forming suffix ‘ā’, the other is from the primary noun ‘paṭisambhidā’ and the secondary noun-forming suffix ‘a’. In other words, ‘paṭisambhidā’ is both a primary noun (kita-nāma) and a secondary noun (taddhita-nāma)....

The other issue involved is the meaning of the secondary noun ‘paṭi­sambhidā’. According to the Pāḷi grammatical rule related to the formation of a secondary noun, when the secondary noun-forming suffix ‘a’ is added to a primary noun, the formed word signifies a branch of ‘study, knowledge of, knowing’. Under the present circumstance, since the primary noun ‘paṭi­sambhidā’ means ‘category or division’ (pabhedā), the secondary noun should be understood as ‘knowledge capable of categorizing, dividing, breaking or even analyzing phenomena separately and thoroughly’.

Thus, paṭi­sambhidā can be translated as "analytical knowledge," "analytical insight," "discriminating knowledge," or "discrimination." Ven. Ñāṇamoli translated the title of the Paṭisambhidāmagga as "The Path of Discrimination."

Specifically, is the Dhamma understood by analysis, or by some emotional event beyond the boundaries of conventional thought? That seems to me to be the difference in outlook between the two major schools.

alan wrote:Specifically, is the Dhamma understood by analysis, or by some emotional event beyond the boundaries of conventional thought?

I think we can begin to understand the dhamma analytically, by listening to the teachings and then reflecting upon them. But this is just a beginning which has to be developed further and integrated with ethical conduct (sīla) and meditative composure (samādhi). There are three levels of discernment (paññā): discernment obtained through hearing (sutamayā paññā), discernment obtained through reflection (cintāmayā paññā), and discernment obtained through meditative development (bhāvanāmayā paññā). The first two comprise theoretical levels of discernment where one hears the teachings and reflects on them. This reflection is the beginning of internalizing the meaning of what has been heard. But for discernment to be liberating the process of internalization must deepen through meditative development. This level is direct experiential discernment.

alan wrote:I'm also wondering about the schools based upon "intuition", or other non-logical, anti-rational thought processes.

I think that if you take a close look at the first 1000+ years of Indian Buddhism (all schools and yānas) you'll be hard pressed to find commentarial literature which advocates any kind of non-logical, anti-rational thought processes. The Indian Buddhists were pretty rigorous in their use of reasoning, as well as logic and epistemology as they understood these disciplines. IMO this should be our standard as well, regardless of which tradition we follow and practice.

And what is the right view that is without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path? The discernment, the faculty of discernment, the strength of discernment, analysis of qualities as a factor for Awakening,

Can someone comment on how right view without effluents ("analysis of qualities as a factor for Awakening") relates to this discussion of analytical knowledge?chownah

And what is the right view that is without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path? The discernment, the faculty of discernment, the strength of discernment, analysis of qualities as a factor for Awakening,

Can someone comment on how right view without effluents ("analysis of qualities as a factor for Awakening") relates to this discussion of analytical knowledge?

"Analysis of qualities" is Ven. Ṭhānissaro's translation of dhammavicaya -- dhamma investigation -- which as you know, is the second of the seven factors of awakening. In the Abhidhamma the seven factors of awakening are all considered to be present at the time of attaining the noble path -- hence "awakening." This demonstrates the integrated processes involved in awakening. And of the seven factors, dhamma-investigation is singled out as synonymous with both the faculty of discernment, and vipassanā. And in the Mahāniddesa, dhamma-investigation is said to be synonymous with bodhi. Also, from the Milindapañha:

“By how many factors does one awaken to the truth?”

“By one, dhamma-investigation, for nothing can be understood without that.”

These sources are all highlighting the point that awakening is a cognitive act of discernment (paññā).

Nana, I was trying to pull you out to get your comments on the Zen view of understanding. But you did not take the bait. So i'll just ask directly. I'd like to hear your views on intuition vs. analysis.Not trying to put you on the spot, I know it is a difficult question. But you can answer it, and I'd love to get your ideas on this.

alan wrote:I was trying to pull you out to get your comments on the Zen view of understanding. But you did not take the bait. So i'll just ask directly. I'd like to hear your views on intuition vs. analysis.Not trying to put you on the spot, I know it is a difficult question. But you can answer it, and I'd love to get your ideas on this.

Yeah, I'd prefer to avoid making any over-generalizations. I've attended some Chan and Zen retreats over the years, and have had mostly good experiences. The quality of the dharma talks can vary but the sitting practice itself is well maintained and practiced. I've also met Chan monks who've practiced the dhutanga austerities of one meal per day and sleeping while sitting upright for the past 30 or 40 years. Very dedicated Buddhist yogis who aren't easily taken in by irrational flights of fancy. So there is real Zen and then there is "Zen-lite." The latter is more popular in many Western circles than the former.